The FL (Floreat Lindum) automobile, built in France.
Mike Tingle dropped me a line recently. He's researching an early 1900s car that appears in an old family photo. He's identified the car as an "FL". It was produced in Paris between 1908 and 1914, and imported to the UK by a sole agent who was situated in Lincoln, where it was named and sold here as the "Floreat Lindum". I've directed him in the direction of the Kithead Trust website, and also Lincoln archives, to see if they have any record of the car and/or its owner, to help Mike with his research.
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Mike takes up the story so far, based on his research:
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I have inherited the attached photo of some of my grandfather's family in an FL car registered in Lincoln between 1903 (when FE 1 was issued) and 1914 (when FL ceased production). The initials WT bottom right are my grandfather's (William Tingle), so presumably he took the photo. The family lived in Lincoln at the time. William's brother, John Tingle was a Lincoln dentist during the first half of the 20th Century, so he is the most likely family member to own the car.
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However, neither I nor my cousins were aware that anyone in the family owned such a car. So we are intrigued to know whether they did, or whether the car belonged to a friend.
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I therefore wish to find out when the registration FE 563 was issued, and if possible, to whom.
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I have already established that FL cars were manufactured by FL Automobiles of Paris between 1908 and 1914. RM Wright of Lincoln were the sole UK agents. They re-badged them as Floreat Lindum, the Lincoln motto, and replaced the Eifell Tower on the badge with Lincoln Cathedral. The FL in the attached photo even has a Lincoln Imp perched on the radiator, though I don't know whether this was also a Wright 'trademark' or just a one-off.
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The registration must surely have been recorded by RM Wright, and I'm hoping their archive is somewhere. Their premises in Lincoln were taken over by Holland Brothers, and subsequently by Marshall (currently Jaguar agents). The latter have proved unhelpful.
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Does the DVLA hold old registration records as far back as 1903? If so, could you please tell me the appropriate department to contact.
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I'd be grateful for any suggestions you can give me towards my search.
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If anyone can help Mike with his research on this particular FL, please drop me a line and I'll forward the details. Thanks for sending the photo over Mike.
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